Drafting apparatus



1965 R. A. WALLACE 3,202,392

DRAFTING APPARATUS Filed July 10, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. RICHARD A. WALLACE ATTORNEY Aug. 24, 1965 R. A. WALLACE DRAFTING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 10, 1963 INVENTOR RICHARD A. WALL/4 CE uyw ATTORNEY Aug. 24, 1965 R. A. WALLACE DRAFTING APPARATUS Filed July 10, 1965 5 Shets-Sheet 5 F/G. 7

INVENTOR. RICHARD A. WALLACE ATTORNEY United States Patent 0 3,332,392 ERAFTXN G AFFARATUS Richard A. Waiince, Norristowu, Pa, assignor to Control (Iorporaticn, a corporation of Minnesota Filed .i-uiy ll il, W63, Ser. No. 294,12g l6 (Ziaims. 248455) This invention relates to drafting apparatus, and more particularly, to a portable drafting apparatus associated with a support in a manner which provides versatile utilization of the same.

The drafting apparatus of the present invention is portable and may be used on any generally horizontal support surface. At the same time, the drafting apparatus of the present invention is structurally interrelated in a manner to provide versatility in the orientation of the plane of the drafting board and maximum utilization of space. Hence, the drafting apparatus may be associated with relatively narrow support surfaces juxtaposed to a wall or other furniture without interfering with the ability of the drafting board to be orientated from a horizontal disposition to a disposition where it lies in a plane at approximately 75 with respect to the horizontal.

The drafting apparatus of the present invention is pro vided with an elevator means which enables the upper edge of the board to move through an arcuate path while reciprocating the lower edge of the board. Selectively adjustable means are provided for retaining the board in any desired plane disposed at any desired angle with respect to the horizontal. A latch means is provided for latching the elevator means to the board. Accordingly, the portable drafting apparatus of the present invention may be stored in an upright position from any desired surface by means of a suitable bracket.

It is a general object of the present invention to provide a novel, inexpensive, versatile drafting apparatus.

It is another obfiect of the present invention to provide a novel portable drafting apparatus structurally interre lated in a manner to facilitate use of the same in environments which do not lend themselves to the types of drafting apparatus proposed heretofore.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an engineers desk having a versatile drafting apparatus associated therewith.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a drafting apparatus wihch may be juxtaposed to a vertical wall and yet be capable of having its drafting board disposed at any angle between zero and 75 degrees with the lower edge of the drafting board spaced from the wall by a distance less than the length of the board.

Ot ier objects will appear hereinafter.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawings a form which is presently preferred; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an engineers desk in accordance with the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation view of the drafting apparatus illustrated in FIGURE 1.

FlGURE 3 is a rear elevation view of the apparatus illustrated in FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 44 in FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 55 in FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 65 in FIGURE 5.

FIGURE 7 is a side elevational view of the drafting apparatus in its stored position.

FIGURE 8 is an end elevation view of the stored apparatus illustrated in FIGURE 7.

ice

FIGURE 9 is a perspective view of a mounting bracket for storing the apparatus as illustrated in FIGURES 7 and 8.

Referring to the drawing in detail, wherein like numerals indicate like elements, there is shown in FIGURE 1 a desk iii of the double bay type having a narrow horizontal ex ension l2 projecting alongside the area within which the chair will be disposed with respect to the desk It The free end of the extension 12 is supported by an upright leg A drafting attachment to is removably coupled to the extension l2 in an operative disposition. The drafting attachment 16 includes a flat drafting board 18 having reinforced side edges. which reciprocally support a horizontal guide member Ztl which traverses the width of the board 18.

The horizontal guide member is adapted to be maintained in any predetermined position on the board l8 for making horizontal lines. Thus, the rear surface of board 1% is provided with marginal strip members 24 and 26 as illustrated in FIGURES 3 and 7. The strip members 2-4 and as rotatably support rollers at their ends. The free ends of a flexible member such as wire or string are connected to one end of the strip member 24 as illustrated at the righthand side of FIGURES 3 and 7. The remainder of the flexible member 22 is extended around the pulleys and crisscrossed as illustrated. Accordingly, the guide member 2i? will remain in any position manually set by an operator and may be selectively adjusted as desired.

The board lid is provided with an elevator means designated generally as 28. The elevator means is secured to the rear surface of the board 18 and adapted to be releasably coupled to the extension 112 as will be made clear hereinafter.

The elevator means 28 includes struts $0 and T22 pivotably secured at one end to the board'ld by means of angle brackets. The opposite ends of the struts Stiand $2 are fixedly secured to a cross member 36. A plate 34 extends between the struts Batl and 32 and has angularly d-isposed flanges fixedly secured to said struts.

A pad 38 of felt or the like is secured tothe lowermost surface of the cross member 36. As shownmore clearly in FIGURE 5, the cross member 36 is L-shaped in cross section and has rectangular ears at its ends to which the struts 329 and 32 are secured as illlustrated more clearly in FIGURE 4. The cross member 36 is also structurally interrelated with the board 18 'by means of a triple suspension slide; A wide variety of double or triple suspension slides, per se, are well-known and may be used on the drafting attachment of the present invention. Accordingly, the triple suspension slide illustrated need not .be described in detail. Hence, it is believed that the general description of the triple suspension slide, modified for the purposes of the present invention as set forth hereinafter, is sufiicient to enable one skilled in the art to understand the operativeness of the present invention;

The triple suspension slide includes a slide plate 40 removably coupled to the cross member 36 by screws or the like. The slide plate 40 is provided with spaced notches 42 along one side edge thereof as illustrated more. clearly in FIGURE 7 and has a pad as of felt or the like secured to its lowermost surface. As shown more clearly in FIGURE 6, the slide plate 4th is provided with an up standing rib which projects into a U-shaped auxiliary can rings 58. Ball bearings 52 or the like are disposed between the rib 4-6 and the arms of the auxiliary slide 48 and retained by means of a keeper 62. v The auxiliary carriage 48 is disposed Within the U-shaped main carriage 50. The righthand end of the main carriage So in FIGURE 5 is pivotably coupled to the board 18 by means of a hinge 51. Hence, cross memtofore.

inner peripheral surface of the arms on the main carriage 50 and the outer peripheral surface on the arms of the auxiliary carriage 48. Ball bearings 56 are maintained in their desired position by means of a keeper 60. As

shown more clearly in FIGURE 7, the lowermost end of the auxiliary carriage 46 is provided with outwardly projecting stop pins 52 and the uppermost end of the main carriage 50 is provided with inwardly projecting stop pins 58. The keeper 60 is disposed between the stop pins 52 and 58. Adjacent the hinge 51, the main carriage 50 is provided with a stop pin 64.

The triple suspension slide between the board 18 and the cross member 36 enables the attachment 16 to be more-versatile than drafting attachments proposed here- Thus, the extension 12 may be juxtaposed to a vertical wall or a portion of another desk. In the closed disposition of thefattachment 16, the board 18 assumes the phantom position in FIGURE 5. As the board 18 moves to the solid line position in FIGURE 5, the lowermost edge of the. board 18 moves toward extension 12 to the solidline position illustrated therein. Hence, it will be noted that the upper edge'of the board 18 never pr'ojectsbeyond the plane of the upright leg of the cross member 36 in FIGURE 5. When the board 18 is in its fully elevated position, the distance from the lower edge of the board 18 to the upright leg'of the cross member 36 is only thirteen inches. Hence, it will'be seen that the extension 12 maybe only ten inches wide and yet perform. the function of supporting a drafting board which, as illustrated, has a'distance'of twenty-one inches between its upper and lower edges.

A selectively adjustable means. is provided for retainingthe board18 in any desired angulardisposition with respect tothe horizontal. Such meansincludes a latchxarm 66 pivotably mounted for rotation about pin 68 at 'a point intermediate the ends of the arm 66. As illustrated more clearly in FIGURES 4 and 6, the pin 68 is provided: with abearing removably secured to themain carriage 50. One-end of the arm 66 is formed to provide a handle 70. The handle 70 is biased away from' the main carriage 50 by means of spring 72 extending therebetween. V V I 4 V The end of the arm 66' remote from the handle 7 0 is provided with, a pin adapted to be selectively positioned in any one of the notches 42. The length of the lastmentioned pin will be apparent from the distance between theiplane of the arm 66 :and the plane of the notch 42 in the enlarged illustration of FIGURE 6..

A selectively operable latch means is'provided for latching the elevator means 28 to the board 18, in its closed disposition. The last-mentioned means includes a latch arm 74 rotatably disposed about pin 76 onplate 34. Ann 74 is provided with an operator end 78 which is disposed alongside of the pin end of arm 66 as illus{ trated moreclearly in FIGURE 7, The end of arm 74 remote from end 78 is biased under the hook portion of latch 84 0n board 18 by means of spring82. i One end of spring -82 -is secured to. the plate 34. The other end of spring- 82 is.secured to thefarm 74. Plate 34 is provided with a limit stop 80. 7

in a counterclockwise direction inFI GUR-E 7. Alternatively, arm 74 may be manually rotated ina counterclockwise direction in FIGURE 7 which permits the elevator means 28 to open partially until the pin on arm 66 engages the juxtaposed end of slide plate 40. Therea a a after, the arm 66 must be rotated to facilitate further eX- tension of the slide suspension.

A pad 86 is provided on the rear face of the board 18 as illustratedmore clearly in FIGURE 3. Pad 86 prevents direct contact between plate 34 and the rear face of board 18. and also cushions the closing movement of the elevator means 28. When it is desired to have the plane of the board 18 just slightly elevated to a position which is below that attainable by. the first of the notches 42, the generally U -shaped auxiliary support 88 may be pivoted from the position illustrated in FIGURE 7 to the position illustrated in phantom in FIGURE 5. When the attachment 16 is lying fiat on a support such as extension 12, it will be noted that the pads 38 and 44 prevent direct contact with the surface of extension 12. Hence, accidental scratching of the upper surface of extension 12 is avoided. p j

The attachment 16 may be removably coupled to the support 12 by means of a mounting bracket designated generally as 9i and illustrated in FIGURE 9. Bracket 90 enables the attachment 16 to be coupled in an operative disposition as illustrated in FIGURES 1-5, or in an inoperative disposition as illustrated in FIGURES 7 and 8. Hence, the attachment 16 may be stored in a manner where it is supported by the extension 12 and yet is disposed in an area not otherwise utilized.

The bracket 99. includes a generally horizontal support engaging portion 92 adapted to be coupled to the lower most surface of the support 12 by bolts extending through the spaced holes 9.4. Portion 92 is provided with an upportions96.

lustrated more clearly in FIGURES 4 and 5. When the attachment 16 is beingstored below the extension 12, the hook portions 98 engage edge 99 of'the cross member 36 whereby theattachment 16 will be suspended as illustrated in'FIGURES 7 and 8. V

Thus, it will be seen that the drafting attachment of the present invention by itself or in conjunction with the v desk 10 provides a novel space saving arrangement which is versatile, inexpensive and capable of being rapidly moved from an operative to an inoperative disposition. The present invention may be embodied in other specific formswithout departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and, accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims, rather than to the foregoing specification as indicating the scope of the invention. It is claimed: 7 V a i V 1. A drafting apparatus comprising a flat drafting board, an "elevator means structurally interrelated with saidboard for causing the upper edge of the board to move through an arcuate path while reciprocating the lower edge of the. board, said elevator means including a selectively adjustable means for retaining the board in a desired plane at an angle with respect to the horizontal.

' 2. -Apparatus in accordance withclaim 1 including selectively operable latch means for latching the elevator means to fthe' board in one operative disposition of; the elevator means. y s

4 3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 including latch means orientated with said'selectivelyadjustable means so that operation of the'latter may release the former.

.4. Apparatus comprising a fiat drafting board, an elevator means structurally interrelated with. said board for causing the upper edge of the board to move through an arcuate path while reciprocating the loweredge of the.

board, said elevator means including a selectively adjustable means for retaining the board in a desired plane at an angle with respect to the horizontal, said board and elevator means being portable, a bracket means for releasably coupling said elevator means to any desired surface, and said bracket means includes a support member for supporting the board and elevator means in an inoperative upright disposition.

5. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said elevator means includes first, second and third movable elements, said first element being pivotably coupled to said board, said third element being pivotably coupled to said board, said second element being slidably disposed between said first and third elements, and said selectively adjustable means being structurally interrelated with said first and third elements.

6. Apparatus in accordance with claim 5 including selectively operable latch means for latching said third element with respect to said board.

7. Furniture comprising a desk, an extension on said desk, a portable drafting apparatus, means removably coupling said drafting apparatus to said extension, said drafting apparatus including a drafting board, the height of said board being substantially greater than the Width of said extension, said drafting apparatus including an elevator means for said board for causing the upper edge of said board to move through an arcuate path while reciprocating the lower edge of said board, and said elevator means including a selectively adjustable means for retaining the board in any predetermined angular position with respect to the plane of the upper surface of said extension.

8. Furniture in accordance with claim '7 wherein said board and elevator means have a collapsed disposition, and said coupling means including structure for supporting the collapsed elevator means and board in an inoperative disposition below said extension.

9. Furniture in accordance with claim 7 wherein the width of said extension is defined by first and second major side edges, and the upper edge of said board being disposed between the vertical planes containing said side edges in all angular dispositions of said board with respect to the plane of the upper surface of said extension.

19. Furniture in accordance with claim 9 wherein said elevator means includes struts pivotably coupled at one end to said board, a suspension slide pivotably coupled at one end to said board, and the other ends of said struts and slide being coupled to a cross member.

11. Furniture in accordance with claim 7 including spaced auxiliary supports on a rear surface of said board, said supports being pivotably secures to said board for movement through an arc of approximately 90 degrees to facilitate supporting said board at a fixed angular elationship with respect to the plane of the uppermost sur face of said extension.

12. A portable drafting apparatus comprising a drafting board, an elevator means secured to a rear surface of said board for enabling the upper edge of the board to move through an arcuate path While reciprocating the lower edge of the board, said elevator means including selectively adjustable means for retaining the board in a plane at an angle with respect to the horizontal, means pivotably securing said elevator means to said board for movement from an open to a closed disposition, and adjustable auxiliary supports for retaining the board in a plane at an angle with respect to the horizontal when the elevator means is in its closed disposition.

13. A drafting apparatus comprising a drafting board, means for releasably coupling said board to a support, said coupling means being stationary with respect to said board, and elevator means for said board including at least one strut pivotably coupled to said board and said coupling means, said elevator means including a reciprocal member guided by a stationary member, a portion of said reciprocal member being pivotably coupled to said board adjacent an edge of said board, said stationary member being connected to said coupling means, and a selectively operable latch means for latching said reciprocal member with respect to said stationary member.

14. Apparatus in accordance with claim 13 wherein said board and elevator means have a collapsed disposition, and said coupling means including structure for supporting the collapsed elevator means and board in an inoperative upright disposition below the upper edge of the coupling means.

15. Apparatus in accordance with claim 13 including selectively operable means movably supported by the strut and cooperable with structure on the board to latch the strut to the board.

16. Apparatus in accordance with claim 15 wherein said latch means is constructed and arranged with respect to said selectively operable means in a manner whereby release of the former will release the latter.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,401,458 12/21 Boon 248--456 2,244,549 6/41 Blakeslee 338() 2,256,372 9/41 Chabon 248-447 2,928,703 3/60 Paulsen 312-231 FOREIGN PATENTS 173,822 7/52 Austria.

216,386 12/60 Austria.

663,135 12/51 Great Britain.

934,664 5/48 France.

FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner. 

1. A DRAFTING APPARATUS COMPRISING A FLAT DRAFTING BOARD, AN ELEVATOR MEANS STRUCTURALLY INTERRELATED WITH SAID BOARD FOR CAUSING THE UPPER EDGE OF THE BOARD TO MOVE THROUGH AN ARCUATE PATH WHILE RECIPROCATING THE LOWER EDGE OF THE BOARD, SAID ELEVATOR MEANS INCLUDING A SELECTIVELY ADJUSTABLE MEANS FOR RETAINING THE BOARD IN A DESIRED PLANE AT AN ANGLE WITH RESPECT TO THE HORIZONTAL. 